Method of making refractory blocks



May 27, 1930. e. w. PARKER- METHOD OF MAKING REFRACTORY BLOCKS Filed May7. 192s Patented May 27, 193% v came STA TES GEORGE V7. PARKER, OF ST.LOUIS, MISSOURI METHOD OF MAKING REFRACTORY BLOCKS Application filed May7,

My invention relates to improvements in the method of making refractoryblocks, and has for its primary object to produce a refractory block foruse in rotary kilns of all kinds and also in water gas generators,producer gas generators, boiler furnace walls, industrial furnace walls,and the like.

A further object is to construct a refractory block in such a mannerthat the exposed or wearing surface is toughened,

A still further object is the method of making refractory blocks in sucha manner that the grain formed during the kneading of the clay will runat right angles to the wearing face of the block thereby rendering theblock tougher and less liable to chip or tear out when clinkers areremoved. I have discovered by hand kneading the clay prior to moldingthat, during the formation and kneading 2 of the wauk, a grain is formedsimilar to the grain in wood although, of course, much finer and thisgrain. runs lengthwise of the wauk. Therefore, a block constructedaccording to'my method will present the end grain to the wearing surfaceand in this manner act a great deal like wood, it being a well knownfact that in wood the face grain wears most rapidly, the edge grainbeing somewhat tougher but being liable to sliver off, but the end grainis extremely tough and is, therefore, used for chopping blocks and othersurfacesexposed to a great amount of,

wear'or rough usage.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a segmental blockhaving one roughened surface;

Fig. 2 is a View of a similar block having all of its surfaces smooth;4D Fig.3 is a perspective View of a rectangular block; Y

r Fig. e is-a vertical cross section of the block disclosed in Fig.1;

Fig. 5 is avertical cross section of the block 7 "l disclosed in Fig.2;-

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section of the block disclosed in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a view showing the wauk during the process'of kneading;

59 Fig. 8 is'a-view of the wauk during the.

. throughout its length.

1928. Serial No. 275,599.

process of kneading showing the wauk folded over upon itself;

Fig. 9 is a cross section of the wauk taken on the. line 99 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the finished wauk;

Fig. 11 is a vertical cross section of the wauk when first inserted in amold for making segmental blocks;

'Fig. 12 is a longitudinal cross section of the same;

Fig. 13 is a vertical longitudinal section of a mold with the waukinserted for forming rectangular blocks; and v Fig. 14 is a View of thebow made use of for cutting off the surplus of the wauk after i the moldhas been filled.

' The material used is'refractory material, such as fire clay and thelike. This clay is l first ground in a pan rather coarsely and then 7passed through a coarse screen so as to remove extremely large lumps,after which the clay is moistened so that it assumes the approximateconsistency of putty. A mass of clay is then taken and placed on akneading table 1.5.where the operator commences to knead it by hand soasto make the mass as homogeneous as possible. During this'kneadingprocess, what is commercially known as,

a wauk 16 is formed and during the formaso tion of'this wauk asort ofgrain is formed. therein that runs longitudinally of the wauk. After thewauk has assumed a certain length, it is folded over upon itself asdisclosed in Fig. 8. This folding over, however, does not materiallydisturb the grain except at the bent portion 17. Further kneading,however, will cause the grain to tear at this point and, again,' runlongitudinally of the wauk It frequently happens during this foldingover of'the wauk that the abutting surfaces do not completelyadhere. Inother words they'fail'to unite, and I have found that V where the grainruns parallel to the wearing 9 face of the block,these portions, duringthe removalof clinker, or ordinary wear, will chip and break outrendering the, surface rough. These rough portions then wearing oifcause the block to wear very readily, but

with my improved block such defect-s would run at right angles to thewearing face of the block and consequently such chipping is eliminated.

After the wank has been formed, it is forcibly inserted into the mold.That is, the

- operates. nicks up the waukand ams one end down" to the mold. The moldisthen bounced up and down on a table so that the wank will pack itselftightly and completely fill the mold. The bo is then broughtinto actionand the surplus portion of the wank is cut off therewith. Thisbow is ofordinary construction and consists of a curved member 18 across which istightly stretched awire 19 with which this cutti g is done. This how,however, is in common use and its construction is wellknown in the art.

Theblocks as disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2 are for lining circular membersand have arcuate faces on their wearing surface and on their st facewhich contactswith the wall. The in Fig, 1 has a concave wearing surface20 and opposite this surfacea convex surface, 21. These surfaces areconcentric.

- The block has parallel faces 22 andfinclined faces The inclined faces.28being 'so inclined tolbeqn'the radius ofia circle so that hyplacing apredetermined number lo fiblocks togethera complete circle .is formed,

' The blockdisclosed in Fig. -1 is. for use in rotary, 'c'ement, and line'kilns, and similar structures, wherein it is desirable to build upclinker on the interior of the lining and theblockthus made merely hasthe surface cutoff the bow thus leaving the surface QOcXtremely rough,that a clinker will readily adhere theretowhile the surfaces 21, andare troweled ,after the block has been removed fromthe niol dto makethem perfectly smooth.

Inthe construction of the block, in Fig. 2 the es2e,25, 26ai1d 27aremade in the same manner asthe surfaces disclosed in lariand d :rnedto have the surfaces either I t y 2601' 29 be, the wearing surface.

li allIof these coii tiuictiolis, as described, the gra n of the variousblocks, will run at riahtangles to the wearmgsurface 4 fig.- 1 the willrun at ri theifac es 20 and 121, i F2 a'ri angl s t c s 28 and .the'endgrain will bejenposed. n-

11 and 12 The .e shown molds for I t I, V, 11], 5llilllgi50g1ll8lllfrlblocks for circular cas ngs. These 'n1olds',.,p,1 eferably consist of abody and a gboililblli gl i the bottom ,31 1 unface of. the block.

Fi .1, with this exception, that the surface Thcblock disclosedin Fig 3is rectanguthatis, in

\ x V angles tothe faces 2% and 25; to ,the, 29 so that when the blocksare The body portion 30 is preferably provided with ears 32 and thebottom with ears 33 so that the mold can be assembled by means of screwor C clamps 34. These clamps not only secure the bottom in position butalso act as handles when the mold is bounced on the table for packingthe wank in the mold. Of

.0m-se,. e is to he understood that the mold,

cornersof themoldco npletely but also has a tendency to pack materialand render it still ,more dense within, the .mold but it does notjn anyway changethetrend ofthe grain, which has been worked upinthe wank;

My blocks, and ,method of making the same, are directedtoihandgnadeblocks only, that is a block made of ,clay which .hasgbeen kneaded handbecause l'have found that hand made bloqks and especially-when madebyjmy improved ,inethod, ,aretougher and last much longer than where thewank is. squeezed out fromfanauger'niachine because the auger, insqueezing outtheiclay, cuts through the grain soitli'at theresultingblock has the grain running in various 'directions and there isno. possi le way in which end grain can be ,positivelyobtained atItheWearing face of blocks made inanauger machine.

li urt h,erl no e Ilhaye found that the trade iS Willing to pay more fore hand-made block than machine-made blocks on accountof their-longerlife and especially in view of the fact that there less possibilityofair pockets, being formed in T the block when handmade than machine-madeblocks.

In oth r words tlie l aiid made block is more homogeneous'and reallydenser Way than a machine-made block even though the ,block has beenmadeon a press "because the kneading of the wau'kunderthe hands of a skilledworkmanwill obi "iat'eair pockets and make the'mass of a more uni-formdensity throughout. i i dgVhile I have" previously disclosed grindingthe clay while dry and then screening it before .moisteni-ng -th'e same,I may, in order to save time, grind the same in what is called afwetpan. In thislpan the mulls are setat a predetermined distance above thebottom ofithe pan, this regulating-the fineness of the grinding. Theclay is put into the pan gr und for ,apredeternrined length of time-s0as'to reduce the l'rrge'. lumps. .The

grinding is. then continued :asid water added winding so as to reducethe mass or consistency. After this the grin g continued without theaddition of any further water until all particles are thoroughly mixed.ft is then removed from t 1e pan and kneaded in the usual manner. Bythus preparing the clay, considerable time is saved and the resultsobtained are equal in every respect to where the clay is ground dry andcreened.

The clay used in the manufacture of my blocks has preferably an aluminacontent of at least fifty per cent.

lVhile I have described the block as being made of rough material andhaving its wearing face finished by means of a bowd, I do not desire tolimit myself thereto as I can make a perfectly smooth block and afterremoving it from me mold scarify or roughen the wearing face in any yellknown manner.

Another point- I desire to stress is that the content of my blockcontains silica and alumina which, when subjected to a high temperature,will combine and form silicate of alumina, commonly known as mullite.

Therefore, blocks made by my method will conta'n mullite when subjectedto a sufliciently high temperature, which will aid in lengthening thelife of the block because it resists expansion and c'ontraction. While Ihave stated that the grain formed in the blocks preferably runs at rightangles to the wearing face, this is not essential as any angle less thana right angle and greater than parallel will be suitable and willtoughen the wearing face of the block.

Having fully described my invention, what I cl im is:

1. The method of making refractory blocks which consists in handkneading a wauk of refractory clay, separating a portion of said wankfrom the remainder thereof and then giving to said separated portion thedesire: shape in such a manner that the grain formed therein during thekneading will extend at right angles to the wearing face of the block.

2-. T he method of making refractory blocks which consists in kneading awank of plastic fire clay so as toestablish therein a grain extendinglongitudinally of the wauk and then forming the wauk into blocks havingthe grain extending at right angles to the wearing face of said blocks.

3. The method of makin re ractory blocks which consists in kneadin awank of moistened fire clay so as to establish a longi tudinallyextending grain therein, placing said wauk in a mold with the grain ofthe wank at right angles'to the bottom of the mold, removing the surplusclay from the top of the mold thereby forming a wearing face with thegrain running at right angles thereto, and then removing said block fromsaid mold. p I

4:. The method of making refractory blocks which consists in kneading awauk of moistened fire clay so as to establish a longitudinallyextending grain therein, placing said wauk in a mold with the grain ofthe wank mold, removing the surplus clay from the top ofthe mold therebyforming a wearing face with the grain running at right angles thereto,then removing said block'from said mold, and lastly, smoothing the facesof said block. I

5. The method of making refractory blocks which consistsin kneading awauk of moistened fire clay so as to establish a longitudinallyextending grain therein, placing said wauk in a mold with the grain ofthe wauk at right angles to the bottom of the mold, removing the surplusclay from the top of the mold thereby forming a wearing face with thegrain running at right angles thereto, then removing said block fromsaid mold, and lastly, ..moothing all the faces ofsaid block except thewearing face. i

-6. The method of making refractory blocks which consists in crushingdry fire clay, pass-- ing said crushed clay through a screen so as toremove the larger lumps therefrom form ing said clay into a plastic massby the addition of Water, kneading said plastic mass of cla into a waukso as to establish a "rain,

Q 0 a: therein running longitudinally of the Wank,

placingsaid wauk in a mold with the grain thereof running at rightangles to the bottom thereof, packing said clay into said mold so as torender the same more dense and with.- out disturbing the trend of thegrain, removing the surplus clay from the top of the mold therebyforming a wearing face with the grain running at right angles thereto,and, lastly, removing said block. from said mold.

7. The method of making refractory blocks which consists in crushing aquantity of fire clay, passing said ground clay through a screen so asto remove the larger lumps thereof, adding water to said clay so as toform a plastic mass, kneading said clay into a wank so as to establish agrain therein running longitudinally of the wauk, placing said wauk in amold with the grain running at right angles to the bottom thereof,packing said clay into said mold so as torender the same more dense andwithout disturbing the trend of the grain, removing the surplus clayfrom the top of the mold thereby forming a wearing face on the blockwith the grain running at right angles thereto, removing said blockfromsaid mold, and lastly, smooth-v longitudinally of the wauk, placingsaid wauk at right angles to the bottom of the in a mold with the-grainrunning at right anglesto the bottom thereof, packing said clay intosaid mold so as to render the same more dense and Withoutdisturbing thetrend of the grain, removing the surplus clay from the top of the moldthereby forming a Wearing face With tie grain running at right anglesthereto, removing saidblock from said mold, andlastly, smoothing all ofthe faces 0i said block except the Wearing face.

9. The method of making refractory blocks which consists in kneading aWank of plastic fire clay containing silica and alumina so as toestablish a grain therein and extending longitudinally of said Wank,forming the Wank into blocks haying the grain of the Wank at rightangles to the Wearing face of saidbloeks, and then exposing said blocksto'a high temperature thereby causing said silica and alumina contenttocombine to form mullite therein. V

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

GEORGE W. PARKER.

